


Day 1: Forgiveness/Reconciliation

by Khateeah



Series: Shimadacest Week '17 [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Brotherly Love, Fluff, Forgiveness, Hopeful Ending, Introspection, M/M, Shimadacest Week, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 03:25:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9158089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khateeah/pseuds/Khateeah
Summary: Genji reminisces on his path to forgiveness & the hope for Hanzo he holds in his heart.





	

_ Forgiveness. _

The word is heavy, yet despite its weight it rests light as a feather upon Genji’s heart. It's the greatest burden and most immense freedom wrapped into one, an emotion like no other - the crux of a journey he’d have never taken were it not for the violence of a man crushed beneath demand, expectation, honor.

_ Hanzo. _

Brother, idol, confidant, friend. He’d been all of those to Genji once, until one day only one remained true, a hollow title tolling empty on the bells of betrayal. Cut after cut his brother carved into his skin, scars woven to tell tales of inadequacy, inferiority, failure. Scars that seemed as though they might never heal, invisible wounds festering, bleeding him dry, resentment and hate pouring into the void of a heart that had once been filled with passion, enthusiasm respect.  _ Love.  _

Love had lost, in the end. Or had it? 

Genji’s eyes flicker down to his mechanized palms, upturned to the broad, clear sky. His gaze traces the synthetic tendons of his wrist, the flexible fibers of his palms, the deceptively natural curve of his segmented fingers. A tiny shiver courses down the length of his artificial spine. He’s alive. He’s alive, after losing a battle with the most skilled assassin in all of Japan. It’s not a coincidence. Something stayed Hanzo’s hand from finishing the job.

Love. The kind of love only two brothers can know, the kind that flows through his veins like a part of him, unconditional, woven into his soul. The love he’d thought they'd lost all those years ago, torn to pieces by the ruthlessness of tradition and duty. He knows now that Hanzo never had a choice, and the thought still twists his stomach into knots. 

Genji’s joints hiss gently as his body unfolds from his cross-legged seat and he lays back, his cybernetic form cushioned by the tender, clover-laced grass blanketing the tranquil hillside situated beyond Hanamura’s city limits. He breathes deeply, in and out, relaxing into the warmth of the sunlight filtering through his visor. He'd never been cut out for a life caged within the Clan, of that he's always been certain. But apparently, neither had Hanzo. 

With Zenyatta’s guidance, it was the knowledge that Hanzo had deserted the Clan shortly after his death that had allowed him to complete his journey on the path to forgiveness. At first Genji had thought of it as cowardice, a conclusion drawn in the heat of his rage. It had taken years for him to reach the truth of it, the understanding that the love they’d shared had never truly died after all. Its flame dimmed, perhaps, shrouded by the dark veil of custom and obligation, but never quenched.

Genji smiles beneath the gleaming curve of his mask. Even after ten years, the love that binds their heart smolders hot as ever, untarnished neither by the distance between them, nor the old wounds etched like gnarled scars upon their hearts. Though the balm of forgiveness has smoothed his own scars into the fabric of time, Hanzo's scars, he knows, are different. Open and raw, Hanzo's wounds yet lay bare, untouched by the healing force Genji himself has managed to embrace. 

Genji reaches one hand towards the sky, watching the tiny pricks of sunlight filter through the gaps between the hinges of each digit. Forgiving another is one thing, but to forgive oneself? It's a burden Genji would gladly lift from his brother's shoulders, but he knows he cannot. Hanzo will have to work through it for himself. He can only hope his brother will find the courage to grasp the hand he's offered. 


End file.
